Foundation garment



1954 G. E. ONGLEY FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed Oct. 11., 1951 4 INVENTOR. 60sec E. O/vqury Patented Jan. 19, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE .FOUNIJATION GARMENT George E. Ongley, Niagara Falls, "N. Y., as-

signor to The Spirella Company, Incorporated, Niagara Falls, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 11, 1951, Serial No. 250,894

.5 Claims.

The invention relates .to womenfs corsets, girdles and other forms of foundation garments that are made from sections of cloth cut to various shapes required for desired support of regions of the body. It has to do particularly with foundation garments of this character that are provided, at the vertically-disposed seams of the cloth sections, with stays having recurring loops of resilient wire, the stays being elastically flexible in all directions and serving primarily to maintain the cloth taut, free from wrinkles, and

smoothly fitted to the body.

Typical examples of such foundation garments are those that are, and for upwards of 50 years have been, individually made to order, and, to 1 the measurements of each wearer,by The Spirella Company in this and in several foreign countries. The stays, well known as Spirella Stays, used in these garments are each made from a single strand of high-carbon, cold-drawn and unannealed steel wire, commercially designated as piano wire, the wire being shaped to form two series of oppositely-disposed pear-shaped loops, as shown in the Beeman Patent No. 1,002,488. These stays are of generally flat form, but each is somewhat concave on one and convex-on the other of its sides, the concavity and convexity extending throughout the length of the stay. They are formed on wire-bending machines generally similar in their mode of operation to that shown in the Beeman Patent No. 1,009,823, ex-

cept for the straightening mechanism.

An inherent characteristic of these stays is that they have greater resistance to bending in the direction of their convex than in the direction of their concave sides, and hence are somewhat stiffer in the direction of their convex than of their concave sides. However, when bent in the directions of their convex and concave sides around arcs of diminishing radii they can, with: out taking a permanent set, be bent to a materially smaller are of curvature in the direction The heretofore necessary positioning of the stays in garments with their convex sides outwardly forms exterior ridges that are objectionable, especially when the wearer of a foundation garment wears a snugly-fitting dress'through which the ridges are visible. These ridges are noticeably enlarged by the superposition of laterally-folded edges of the cloth at the verticallydisposed seams of the garment when the stays are, as is usually done, positioned at the seams that unite the sections of the cloth of which the garment is made.

The object of this invention is to provide a foundation garment of the character explained having stays of recurring loops of resilient wire at its vertically-disposed seams, and being ex- .teriorly' smooth and free from ridges, the stays beingbendable in Wearing use of the garment without taking permanent sets.,

The invention'is illustrated in the accompanying drawings of which Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a foundation garment; Fig. 2 a face view to Henlarged scale of the preferred form of stays In the practice of this invention, I provide a foundation garment, at the seams of the sections of. the cloth. of which it is made, with stays formed of recurring loops of wire, the stays having convex andconcave sides, which are inherent in their formation. I place the stays on the inside of the garment with their concave sides facing outwardly, and I utilize the concavities of the stays as pockets or recesses for the laterally folded edges of the cloth at the seams of the sections, with the result that the outside of the garment is substantially smooth and is free from visible ridges.

Instead'of using stays having the characteristic of those heretofore used, namely those which take permanent sets when bent materially in the'direction of their concavities, I use stays that may be bent quite sharply in the direction .by body movements of a wearer of a garment.

The foundation garment-I show in Fig. 1 is a girdle, which is typical of many forms and types of such garments in which this invention may be embodied. The garment comprises several sections of cloth 2 that are cut to the shapes required for desired support of regions of the body of a wearer, the adjacent edges of the several sections being sewed together by vertically-disposed seams that will presently be fully explained.

At each of the seams a stay 4 is attached to the inside of the garment in the manner generally shown in Fig. 2. Each stay comprises recurring loops 3 of resilient wire, and is elastically flexible in all directions. Preferably the loops are generally pear-shape in outline, as shown in Fig. 2, the adjacent edges of the widest portions of the loops overlapping each other as thereishown. The stays serve primarily to maintain the cloth taut, free from wrinkles, and smoothly fitted to the body. Being elastically flexible in all directions, they conform to the curves of the body positions.

The stays are cut to desired lengths from "long continuous lengths of stay-making material that may be formed on a wire-bending machine like that shown in the above-mentioned Beeman Patent No. 1,009,823. As so formed, the strains in the stay-making material tend to cause it to coil upon itself in the direction of its concave side, but such coiling is eliminated by subsequent straigh ening operations. When the stays are cut to desired length their ends are provided with sheet metal tips 5, as shown in Fig. '2. As and for the reason explained above, each stay, whether its loops are pear-shaped or of other forms, has a concavity 6 on one side and a somewhat corresponding convexity l on its other side, as shown in both Figs. 3 and 4. In the practice of this invention the stays are positioned in the garments with their concave side 6 outwardly at the seams of the sections 2 of the cloth, as shown in Fig. 4. Each seam is formed by stitching sections of cloth together adjacent to their edges, as indicated at 8, and thereafter folding'the edges 9 of the cloth backwardly. These folded edges lie in the concavityli of the stay, in view which, and because the convex side of the stay is on the inside of the garment, the outside of the garment is smooth andfree from ridges, v.asappears in FigA.

Each stay is attached to the garment .by a strip of cloth 10 by sewing its inwardly folded edges to the cloth sections 2, as indicated at. H. If desired, the stays may be incase'd in strips of cloth folded loosely around them before they are attached to the garment by cloth strip [0.

Like the stays heretofore used, namely, those shown in the above-mentioned Beeman Patent No. 1,002,488, those used in the practicelof this invention are elastically flexible in all directions. However they difier from those heretofore used in that, without taking objectionable permanent sets, they are capable of being bent in the direction of their concave sides at arcs of a less radius of curvature than can be imparted to the .stays by a wearer of the garment. While such stays may be made of resilient wire of different metals and metal alloys, they are preferably made of unannealed cold-drawn high-carbon steel wire containing from about .80 to .95% carbon, fromabout .30 to 50% manganese, from about to 430% silicon, phosphorous as low as possible and not over .025%, and sulphur as low as possible and not over 035%. v,

Because of theirliability to take objectionable permanent sets, stays of the form explained .made from such steel wire of the foregoing analysis cannot be used with their concave sides outwardly in foundation garments. This invention is predicated in part upon my discovery that physical 4 characteristics of such stays that have contributed to or been responsible for such permanent sets can, by subjecting the formed stays, to a particular heat treatment, be eliminated or so modified that the stays may be positioned in foundation garments with their concave sides outwardly, and that when so positioned the stays will not take permanent sets. The preferred heattreatment comprises heating the formed staysto a temperature of from about 380 to 460 F. for a period of from about 50 to ninety minutes, and then air cooling the stays. However, the temperatures of the heat-treatment may be lowered and the times of heating increased with about the same advantageous results. The temperature of this heat treatment is materially below that necessary for recrystallization of cold worked steel, in view of which the heat-treatment is not an annealing operation. In fact, the heat-treatment increases rather than decreases the hardness and strength of the stay-wire, its Tukon hardness being increased about -7.4% and its ultimate strength about 7.7%. 'Ihe average Tu-kon hardness number of the heat-treated stay wires is about 725, andthe average ultimate strength is about 375,000 pounds per square inch. The overall effect is that the stays may be positioned in garments with their concave sides outward-1y, with no liability of their taking permanent sets by body movements of wearers :of the garments, and with the substantial advantage that the outside of the garments are smooth, and free "from exterior ridges thatprejudicially characterize garments provided withstays having their convex sides outwardly.

A further advantage of stays having the improved characteristics just explained is that due to, the increased strength of the wire they may be made of smaller diameter wire than those heretofore used. specifically, the stays have heretofore been-made of cold-drawn steel wire having a minimum diameter of .041 o f-an inch, Whereas the improved stays .can be "made of steel wire of the same analysis having a diameter as small as .034 of an inch.- When made of small diameter wire, the stays are advantageously lighter and thinner than those used-prior to my invention.

According to the provisions of the patent statu'tes I have explainedthe principle and mode of operation of my invention, and have illustrated and described its preferred'em'bodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may bepra-cticed in forms other than that specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A foundation, garment comprising sections of cloth shaped for required body support and control and sewed together by vertically-disposed seams having laterally folded edges on the inside of the garment, and wrinkle-preventing stays attached-to the inside of'th'e garmentforming cloth at --said' sea-ms, said stays being of generally fiat form but each having a concavity at one of its sides extending throughout the length thereof, each of' said stays'comprising recurring loops of resilient wire and being elastically flexible in all directions, and sa-id stays being positioned with their concave sides outwardly, the folded edges of thecloth-at-saidseams lying in the concavities of the stays whereby the outside of the garment is smooth and free from exterior ridges at the positionsof the stays.

'2. -.A' foundation garment comprising sections of :cloth' shaped for required body support and control and sewed together .by vertically-disposed seems having laterally folded edges on the inside of the garment, and wrinkle preventing stays attached to the inside of the garment-formin cloth at said seams, said stays being of generally flat form but each'having a concavity at one of its sides extending throughout the length thereof, each of said stays comprising recurring loops of resilient wire and being elastically flexible in all directions, each of said'stays'being bendable in the direction of its concave side at an arc of less radius of curvature than can be imparted to the stay by body movements of a wearer of the garment while the stay retains its elasticity and its capability fully to return toits unbent form, and said stays being positioned with their concave sides outwardly, the folded edges of the cloth at said seams lying in the concavities of the stays whereby the outside of the garment is smooth and free from exterior ridges at the positions of the stays.

3. A foundation garment comprising sections of cloth shaped for required body support and control and sewed together by vertically-disposed seams having laterally folded edges on the inside of the garment, and wrinkle preventing stays attached to the inside of the garment-forming cloth at said seams, said stays being of generally flat form but each having a concavity at one of its sides extending throughout the length thereof, each of said stays comprising recurring loops of resilient high-carbonsteel wire and being elastically flexible in all directions, each of said stays being bendable in the direction of its concave side at an arc of less radius of curvature than can be imparted to the stay by body movements of a wearer of the garment while the stay retains its elasticity and its capability fully to return to its unbent form, and said stays being positioned with their concave sides outwardly, the folded edges of the cloth at said seams lying in the concavities of the stays whereby the outside of the garment is smooth and free from exterior ridges at the positions of the stays.

4. A foundation garment comprising sections of cloth shaped for required body support and control and sewed together by vertically-disposed seams having laterally folded edges on the inside of the garment, and wrinkle preventing stays attached to the inside of the garment forming cloth at said seams, said stays being of generally flat form but each having a concavity at one of its sides extending throughout the length thereof, each of said stays comprising recurring pear-shaped and overlapping loops of resilient high-carbon steel wire having a Tukon hardness number of about 725, and being elastically flexible in all directions, each of said stays being bendable in the direction of its concave side at an arc of less radius of curvature than can be imparted to the stay by body movements of a wearer of the garment while the stay retains its elasticity and its capability fully to return to its unbent form, and said stays being positioned with their concave sides outwardly, the folded edges of the cloth at said seams lying in the concavities of the stays whereby the outside of at said seams, said stays being of generally flat form but each having a concavity at one of its sides extending throughout the length thereof, each of said stays comprising recurring pearshaped loops of resilient high-carbon steel wire having a diameter of less than .034 of an inch and being elastically flexible in all directions, each of said stays being bendable in the direction of its concave side at an arc of less radius of curvature than can be imparted to the stay by body movements of a wearer of the garment while the stay retains its elasticity and its capability fully to return to its unbent form, and said stays being positioned with their concave sides outwardly, the folded edges of the cloth at said seams lying in the concavities of the stays whereby the outside of the garment is smooth and free from exterior ridges at the positions of the stays.

GEORGE E. ONGLEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 194,011 Sutherland Aug. 7, 1877 645,444 White et a1. Mar. 13, 1900 1,002,488 Beeman Sept. 5, 1911 1,108,252 Schuler Aug. 25, 1914 2,552,368 Colby May 8, 1951 

